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Monday, May 19, 2008

How to Make a Diaper Cake

I absolutely cannot believe and am blown away by the amount of emails, private messages on Splitcoast and comments here on my blog I've received regarding the Diaper Cake I made HERE. Thanks to each and every one of you who left such kind words about it and also thanks to you "lurkers" out there who just took a peek at it (you know who you are--speak up, don't be shy!). SO MANY of you have asked for directions as you have been asked to make one of these for a shower, have always wanted to know how to do it, or have been inspired to make one on your own just from seeing the one I did (humbled). Well here's a little secret---they are super EASY!!! I just thought it would be so much easier to put it into tutorial form rather than address every email seperately. So, finally, I got my act together and put a very "elementary" tutorial together. I have decided to do it in two parts so that each post is not so looooong(and for my sanity)! We will do the "putting it together" part here and then tomorrow night I will post the "decorating" part (i'll be doing a baby boy cute "wild animal" theme, so come back now, ya'll!), which I know some of you could care less about because you are ALL capable of doing it without direction. I hope ya'll like pictures (I did not Photoshop them, sorry, but it would have just taken way too long and they aren't all that bad!) Off we go...........

HOW TO MAKE A DIAPER CAKE, Part One, Cake part onlySUPPLIES NEEDED:

Diapers--Approx. 72-75 (I have only tried it with the Pampers Size 1 Swaddlers. I wanted them white with no pictures on the booty part.)Rubber Bands (I liked the skinny ones as you don't want them too tight)Flat Base (I used a 12" Wilton cardboard cake base)15 oz. bottle of Baby Powder4 oz. cheapy plastic Baby BottlePop Up Glue dots

1. Start by rolling up about 10 of the diapers, front to back. You want them pretty tightly rolled so the whole cake will look uniform. Put a rubber band around the middle, but don't make the rubber band so tight that it puckers. I did this flat on the table. When it gets to the center little "crotchy" area, it wants to stay folded here. I just let it and rolled in the fold as i went.

2. Place Baby Powder onto the middle of the Cake Base. Take about 9 of the rolled diapers and stand them up in a ring around the Baby Powder. It may take more or less diapers depending on what type of powder you purchased. That's ok. Put a rubber band around this first ring so that it hugs the Powder.

3. Roll more diapers. Make a second ring around the first one using about 14-15 diapers. Secure the entire ring with a rubber band, making sure it does not pucker them. It will help it stand up straighter.

4. Roll more diapers. (See a pattern here? You could go ahead and roll more for the second and third layers if you like, but you don't know exactly how many you will need.) Make a third ring around the second one using about 20-21 diapers. This last ring should be hitting the outskirts of the 12" cake base. Secure with another rubber band. TIPS: When you roll the diapers, for some reason, a little of the colored picture from the front velcro area shows on one end and not the other. I preferred my outer rings, since they will be showing the most, to be completely white. Therefore, I made sure the white end was up before securing an entire ring with the rubber band. I also made sure the ends of the rolls were all to the inside of the cake for each layer, so it would not be sloppy on the outer edge where the paper bands would be.

5. Take a couple of the pop up glue dots and adhere the Baby Bottle to the top of the Baby Powder. Part of the Baby Powder should still be sticking up, acting as a center for the next layer as well as part of the Baby Bottle.

6. Roll more diapers if you didn't already. Make your first ring on the second layer around the Baby Powder/Baby Bottle, using about 8-9 diapers and secure with a rubber band.

7. Roll more diapers. Make the second ring on the second layer, using about 14-15 diapers. Again white end up and rolled ends to inside ring for neatness. (it counts!)

8. Roll about 7 more diapers for the final top layer of the cake. Place them around the last bit of showing Baby Bottle. The diapers will be a bit taller than it, but that's ok, as you will put a cute little topper on it and it won't show. Secure the last ring with a last rubber band, again white end up and rolled ends to the middle so they don't show on the outside.

You are DONE!! That whole process should only take about an hour, if that. Any questions? Feel free to email me. It's cute already, huh!! Now, a lot of you can go from here with the decorating part, but if not, have no fear! I will be back tomorrow for a look at how I finished it! See you then!

53 comments:

Thank you so much for putting this together! Seeing how you do it makes me want to smack my head because it really is pretty simple! Love it...now I just want to host a baby shower for someone so I can make one! Too bad all of my friends are on 2nd and 3rd kids right now...I have a sister-in-law that hasn't had a kid yet though! Thank you, thank you again! Can't wait to see the decorating post tomorrow!

I have been making these for years, for the middle I use an empty paper towel holder. It is the perfect height and you don't have to worry about the glue tabs and the baby bottle and powder staying together.

A million thanks for the tutorial. I've made these before but mine have never come out this CUTE!! I have three baby showers in the next two weeks what a too stinkin cute gift for the mama to be and sooo useful too!!

You are so clever! This is such a great, fabulous, exciting idea! What a wonderful gift for a new mum to be!! so cute! Thanks for the tutorial ... I know just the person I can try this on :) TFS Rachel

" I was making this entire process a little difficult for myself....until I read your blog...yippeeee! This was very simple and easy to follow....my husband even got out of the bed to help with the cake. He even added his own "little something, something"Thank u 4 sharing!

thanks so much for this tutorial....I admit to being a lurker on splitcoast and found your original post of this cake there....My sister is expecting her first and I really wanted to make a diaper cake. I am so excited to have found some easy to follow directions.

I just saw this last week as someone posted a link to your site for someone looking for a diaper cake. I wasn't sure what I'd find... but I have to say absolutely adorable! I ran right out and grabbed some supplies since we had a shower the cheerleaders were throwing for their other coach in two days. My kids helped... (6-14) We all had a Fabulous time together. Her coach loved it. :o)

Made a diaper cake for my nieces baby shower. Thanks to your detailed instructions It came out great....added lots of little baby things...ribbons.and a cute doll on top!!!Lots of stuff from micheals crafts store.. and was able to get a large clear plastic bag to keep it in..with a big bow on top....made it very professional and easy to transport.. THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to give detailed directions....

Thank you so much for the tutorial...it really helps to see it done. I had the general idea from making regular cakes, but I had seen the diaper cakes and wanted to make it instead of a regular cake for my daughter's baby shower...she has to watch her sugar (and i make my own frosting) and i wanted something special for my first granddaughter...Thank you so much again...

Thank you so much for sharing this awesome tutorial. You did a great job and made this tutorial easy to understand and follow. I am going to try my hand at making one for a friend who is having a baby. What a wonderful shower gift!

This diaper cake is very creative and you have an eye for design! I see you used the rolled diaper method, and I would like to point out that if your readers are pressed for time, they can also use the fanning method. :) Instead of rolling each individual diaper, you can stand the diapers like a fan.

Thankyou so much. I'm going to using your instructions to make a diaper cake for a friend's baby shower this weekend. I have been wanting to do this for a very long time but all the other blogs made me feel intimidated and made the process look daunting. Yours was the first site that makes it look simple. I'll be back this weekend to tell you how it came out.

I came across your blog on a Google search for How to Make a Diaper Cake, thank you so much this was so easy. I think I'm going to use an empty paper towel roll next time, I did that for the top tier on mine (bottom two were Johnson & Johnson soap) and it seemed to mold around so much easier.

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It's Me Susan...

My name is Susan and I am a SAHM of 3 girls. I am married to the best guy ever and we have been together for 15 years. yay!! I love any kind of papercrafts--stamping, scrapbooking, making cards--all of it as long as I'm having fun doing it (which is most of the time)!! I'd love to hear from you! Email me at susanliles@sbcglobal.net